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Background Music
TTSNative can play quiet music under the narration: ambient pads, a fantasy theme, lo-fi, piano pieces, or the sound of rain, a stream or the sea. It is off unless you turn it on, it has its own volume, and it never changes the narration.
The Audio mixer button (three sliders) in the player at the bottom opens every sound level in one place. On a phone it is next to the play controls; on a wider screen it is at the end of the position bar.
- Narration: how loud the voice is, from 0 to 100 %. It starts at 100 % and is remembered on this device. On iPhone and iPad the narration follows the device's own volume buttons instead, and the mixer says so.
- Background music: on or off for this narration, its volume, and the track.
- Start reading a document.
- Open the Audio mixer.
- Turn on Background music.
The music fades in. It plays while the narration plays, fades out when you pause, and carries on from the same place when you press play again. Moving to another sentence or section, changing the voice, the speed or the pace, and a sleep timer don't interrupt it.
Music is off again for every new narration. Opening a different document, reaching the end of the document, or closing and reopening TTSNative turns it off. Turn it on again whenever you want it. TTSNative remembers which track you chose and how loud you like it, but never turns it on by itself.
Select Browse in the audio mixer to open the library:
- Categories (Ambient, Fantasy, Cinematic, Lo-fi, Focus, Nature) narrow the list.
- Preview (the play button beside a track) lets you hear a track for up to 20 seconds. If music is playing, the preview replaces it for a moment; the narration keeps going. Closing the library stops the preview. Previewing never turns music on.
- Select a track to use it. If music is playing, it crossfades to the new track.
The music's volume goes from 0 to 100 %. It starts at 10 %, which keeps the music well below the voice. It is separate from the narration: the music slider never changes how loud the narration is, and the narration slider never changes the music. Both are saved on this device; another computer or phone keeps its own.
Seventeen tracks, about 66 minutes in all, chosen to sit quietly under a voice: no singing, no sudden loud parts. They run from about a minute and a half to eight minutes, and each one loops smoothly, so it can play for as long as you listen. However long a track is, playing it takes the same small amount of memory: TTSNative plays it in pieces of about 20 seconds, blended into each other.
| Category | Tracks |
|---|---|
| Ambient | Contemplation · Calm Ambient 1 (Synthwave 4k) |
| Fantasy | Rising Moon · Lament for a Warrior's Soul |
| Cinematic | Waiting II |
| Lo-fi | Washed Up · Currents We Used to Know |
| Focus | Gymnopédie No. 1 (Satie) · Calm Piano 1 (Vaporware) · Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1 (Chopin) · Moonlight Sonata, first movement (Beethoven) · Pathétique Sonata, Adagio cantabile (Beethoven) |
| Nature | Soft rain on a tile roof · Brook, stream · Gentle ocean waves · Rain in the forest · Small stream |
Every track was placed in the public domain by the people who made it (or, for the classical pieces, both the music and the recording are in the public domain), so it is free to share and use. Credits and licences in the library lists each creator, where the track came from and how it was edited.
The music ships with TTSNative and plays from your own computer. Nothing is downloaded or sent anywhere, and it works without an internet connection.
Exports contain the narration only. Music isn't added to exported files.
- "Couldn't play …": that track couldn't be loaded. The narration carries on; choose another track or turn music on again.
- "Background music isn't available in this browser.": the browser can't play music this way. Narration still works. Use a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
- The music is too loud or too quiet: adjust the music's volume in the audio mixer, not the narration's.